It is helpful to take into account some technical and historical aspects of the problem of environmental pollution. The greenhouse effect is the best reference.
Throughout this century, and through further global industrialization, we have witnessed a worldwide environmental catastrophe, with high levels of pollutants coming from industrial processes, man, and their derivatives (such as transportation and other mobile sources). The foregoing has increased the natural concentration of gases in the atmosphere as well as added gases having a higher toxicity than those produced naturally. Among the gases that need to be neutralized are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
Systems and processes exist that physically or chemically reduce or stop gaseous toxic waste from going into the atmosphere. So far, most efforts use physical means to filtrate particles through thin membranes, or employ electric shocks to negatively charge particles to capture them, or they simply use nozzles that inject certain base solutions (ammonia, urea, etc.) which act as catalysts of certain gases (hydrogen or CO2) through chemical reactions which neutralize the gases when they react with each other, thus converting them into more stable substances, which are less harmful for the environment. However, production and maintenance of the equipment is very expensive.
CL38989 discloses a gases purifier having liquid wash drops, in counterflow of the gases in which the gases are treated by counterflow; and a series of pumps are used to splash the gases in an aqueous base solution.
CL38227 discloses a filter to retain suspension particles contained in the exhausts of internal combustion engines. In that case, there is a filter for particulate material which uses water in the process, through a series of jointed metal channels.
CL42130 discloses a wet filter device for all types of particles in industrial smokestacks comprising of a turbo extractor which incorporates a filter mesh, and filtration chambers associated with impeller means and liquid heaters and gas cooler elements. That is another type of filter that uses a mesh to capture large particles with gas coolers and heaters.
CL41569 discloses a treatment system for contaminated air comprising a station to capture air, a chamber for accumulating gases, an initial decontamination tunnel with floating mesh and sprinklers fed by water, a pool to decant residues, a particle dryer, and a pump to push the decontaminated water. That is another system that uses water as the base of its process, but it can only decant air particles on a large scale, making it almost impossible to apply.
CL01930-2001, published on Oct. 9, 2002, discloses a chemical-mechanic process to reduce contaminating gases having a first wash step which uses a chemical solution consisting of distilled water, sodium bicarbonate and urea: the latter two compounds at concentration from 5-8% each, followed by two more steps of filtration. In that application, contaminating gases are reacted with chemical substances at a fixed temperature. Hence, that application falls within a group of known catalysts of Reducción Catalítica Selectiva (SRC) (Selective Catalytic Reduction).
CL00324-2002 discloses a method to decrease pollutant emissions from stationary or mobile sources of combustion gases comprising the steps of separating the gases in multiple flows, decreasing the temperature of the gases by cooling, subjecting the gases to a washing step, and decanting the particulate material. That method consists of a series of aluminum pipes with different diameters in which the polluted gas passes through and at the same time a solution of distilled water is injected to produce a chemical effect.
CL 44552 discloses a method to purify exhaust gases of an engine, with an arrangement to recirculate gases, wherein a control device is adapted using temperature data and a valve device, to achieve a relationship between NOx and soot which is favorable for the regeneration of the filter. CL '552 refers to a vehicle catalyst device which reduces NOx and soot due to a system of recirculation of gases along with another series of factors.
EP 2119490, published on Nov. 18, 2009, discloses a system that reduces air pollution comprising an initial step for the liquid reduction of heavy metals, dust, pollen, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particle form, a second step of oxidation in water of light hydrocarbons using oxygen from electrolysis, and a third step of transformation of chemicals such as CO2 into bicarbonate by a reaction with inorganic carbonates. EP '490 uses chemical reactions with accompanying materials, as in the case of carbonate, to produce the desired effect (bicarbonate in this case). It uses electrolysis to liberate oxygen from water and to activate a reaction with certain hydrocarbons.
US 2009/0016948 A1, dated Jan. 15, 2009, discloses reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide and production of carbon for subsequent use as fuel and, more specifically, refers to a dissolution process of atmospheric carbon dioxide in an adequate flow of alkali metal salt to form carbon and oxygen by an electrolysis process. The physical and chemical processes used to separate carbon from CO2 oxygen, the reactants or catalysts used (electrodes), end up with results that are quite different. The electrolysis obtains oxygen through a basic solution with Mercury casted at very high temperatures (above 800 degrees Celsius).
In the current market and at industrial level, there are different types of abatement and particulate material control systems. These include inertial separators (or cyclones), wet strippers (scrubbers), hose systems, and electrostatic precipitators. However, none of these systems are concerned with gas treatment and processing. For treating and processing gases there are only absorption systems of certain gases. The problem is that they require a large investment, and they are only intended for some types of industrial processes such as NOx or Selective Catalytic Reduction. At the same time, none of the above systems are able to simultaneously control particulate material and processing of gases and obtain a desired yield.
The main systems that currently exist in the global industrial market are aimed at the reduction of particulate material. Within these systems are electrostatic systems, gas scrubbers, cyclones and bag filters. However, the effectiveness of these systems in capturing more volatile substances is limited to what may contain residual particulate material. As for the cost, it varies according to efficiency. The most expensive costs are the initial investment as well as maintenance costs for those systems that can capture 99% of particulate material.